A Long Walk
by BirdG
Summary: Draco Malfoy and Asteria Greengrass, their story told in one hundred parts.


Draco Malfoy and Asteria Greengrass, their story told in one hundred parts.

(Or one hundred non-linear, not-always-connected ficlets and drabbles done in the same universe. Based on the table from fanfic100 lj.)

* * *

The sound of the summer rain hitting the window, the soft bed beneath him, and Asteria curled beside him, her fingers running through his hair; Draco couldn't remember the last time he'd been this content. Closing his eyes, he saw Asteria straddling him as they rocked together and he thought about blowing off his plans for the rest afternoon to stay in bed with her.

"No sleeping," she whispered, brushing a knuckle across his cheek.

He tilted his head towards her, his eyes still closed as he said, "I'm not."

She scoffed at this. "Your mother is expecting you at the manor in an hour and I will not lie for you no matter how much I love you."

Draco blinked, looking over at her as she hastily looked away.

Neither of them had said those words yet and he hadn't expected she would say them first. From the way she was trying to pull away from him without making it obvious and failing at both, she hadn't expected it either.

He opened his mouth to say something and quickly shut it again. The natural response simply wouldn't come to him and he wasn't so stupid as to think 'really?' or 'thanks' would be appropriate.

"I'm going to shower," she said, standing and pulling on her robe. She didn't look back as she walked out of the room.

* * *

He had cried for Asteria once.

After he had ruined everything and pushed her away, Draco had found that the constant misery he had once found so easy to bear had grown stifling. He had missed the sex, of course, the pull between them was unlike anything he had known before or since and whatever it was she had stirred in him, he knew she was the only one who could sate that hunger. But he had missed her friendship more. The loneliness that had once been so comfortable, the loneliness that he had told himself came with this new world order and being who he was, seemed ready to overwhelm him.

She had left him weaker and he had very nearly hated her for that.

Draco couldn't even manage that in the end, his need for her stronger than his wounded pride.

* * *

Asteria accepted his invitation to tea with a determined cheeriness that left him unnerved.

It had been three days since he had last seen her and he had been trying to think of some way to smooth things over. This wasn't it, however.

His mother had told him his that his Aunt Andromeda wished to have them both join her and Teddy for tea. Draco had invited Asteria along, convincing his mother that he had done because she and Andromeda worked together and were friends.

Truth be told, he didn't like being around his aunt. She looked too much like but Bellatrix and acted too different from anyone he had ever known; her regal Black bearing and her blood traitor beliefs making her a riddle to him. She wasn't like the Weasleys she now associated with, she was too much of a Black for that and it was clear she she had her own reasons for accepting his mother's olive branch and introducing them to Teddy. But she was like no pureblood of her status that he had ever known.

Asteria liked her and the two got on quite well. More importantly, Teddy liked Asteria and her being there meant she could act like a buffer. It always happened that his mother and aunt would spend most of their time talking to each other and Draco was expected to keep his five-year old cousin entertained. With Asteria here, he could talk to her and, better yet, so could Teddy.

That determinedly easy-going attitude she had been working so hard on had wavered when had had admitted this but she had taken on the role with aplomb. Teddy seemed quite taken with her, his hair switch from golden blonde to a jet black as he sat beside her on the couch, his fairy cake forgotten as he told her about his day.

As a Malfoy there were things expected of him, chief among them that he would marry well and continue the name. As a dutiful son, he had always intended to do just that. He had simply expected it to come later in life. He would need those years to build a life, to re-establish the Malfoy name and replenish their vaults. With enough time, enough good press and gold, it would be easy to find a pureblood witch who would see it as an honor rather than a liability to take his name.

Or so he hoped. He didn't want to marry just anyone. The woman he married had to be intelligent, strong-willed, and kind. She had to be someone on whom he could rely, who could bear the weight of the Malfoy name and not wilt underneath it. For the sake of their future children, he'd want her to be attractive but passion was a luxury. He needed a partner and mother to his would-be children first, not a lover.

Teddy curled next to Asteria, a book in his lap as he they read and a strange feeling came over Draco as he watched the two of them. Before he was ready for it, he had found everything he had been looking for and more.

* * *

Ten days had passed and Draco was beginning to wonder if Asteria's cool attitude was an act. Logic told him it had to be but she stuck so resolutely to her script that he was starting to doubt himself. These past few days they had fallen into their normal routine of having dinner together and spending their nights in each others arms.

Kissing her forehead, he pushed himself off of her and opened the window with an easy flick of his wand. A soft breeze cut through the heat of the room and in the distance, he could hear the roll of thunder.

The smell of sex and sweat in the air, Draco laid back down on the bed with Asteria next to him. Last night he had been willing to ignore it but tonight he knew for certain that things weren't back to normal. It wasn't the sex, that had been a hungry frenzy that had him trying to convey what he had so far failed to say, but the sudden coolness after. She didn't curl up next to him, she didn't even speak to him.

Rolling onto his side and propping himself up on an arm, Draco looked at her. She had one arm over her eyes as she lay there, her black hair sticking to her neck and chest as the sweat cooled on her still-flushed skin. He drank in the sight of her, her nipples tight from the cool air, the smooth plane of her stomach and the dark curls below and the wetness he could still see on her thighs. He wanted her again, he wondered if he could ever have enough of her.

That was the question that scared him the most.

She raised her arm and caught his gaze. There was a vulnerability in her eyes that made his breath catch in his throat. In an instant was gone, replaced by that calm mask.

"I need a shower," she said, pushing herself up and moving from the bed. "I can't wait for this heat to break."

Draco watched her move around the room, chattering on about the weather and mentioning things they could do without asking outright. He would have to make the move just like he was the one who had to invite her to tea, he had to ask to see her for dinner, and he was the one to kiss her. Before, he couldn't even say who had done what but now he knew she would not give him an inch more than she had. It was on him.

She walked over to the window, pushing it down so it was only open a crack as the rain began to fall. Throwing the covers aside, Draco walked over to where she was, catching her wrist.

"Will you be joining me?" she asked lightly as she turned towards him. The corners of her mouth tugged down for a second and he saw something flicker across her face as if she had already violated her internals rules by saying that.

"Like you need to ask," he murmured, kissing her as he wrapped his arms around her. After a beat, she responded in kind, her body pressing against his in way that had him wanting to take her back to bed.

He broke off the kiss, resting his forehead against hers as his chin traced the line of her jaw. In that moment he couldn't understand why he hadn't said the words he'd felt for so long.

"I love you."


End file.
